A Non-Serious Post: Ode to Breakfast

Out of all my habits, this may be the hardest to break. You see, when I was growing up I only got hot breakfast on the weekends. During the week it was more like get up, get dressed, get to school. So when I discovered that you could buy pre-made hot breakfasts at a drive thru (cue angels singing).

As much as I love them, I will be trying to say good-bye to my delicious potato, egg and cheese taquito with hash brown sticks and refreshingly cold Coke from What-a-burger in the mornings. Good-bye to my decidedly glorious doughnut holes, sausage and cheese rolls and coffee from Shipley's, and my appetizing reduced fat cinnamon coffee cake and grande white chocolate mocha from Starbucks. Good-bye, my beloved egg mcmuffin meal from McD's, and good-bye supreme croissant sandwich combo from Jack in the Box. Good-bye, chorizo, potato, egg and cheese tacos from Fuzzy's. You will all be missed.

Hello, cold cereal. Healthy juices. I hate to start off on the wrong foot, but I already don't like you. :-(

A Serious Post: An Open Letter

There are many excuses as to why a person chooses not to exercise: I have to work, I have to get home to my family, I have school, I'm too fat, I'm too old, I can't do it, etc. In the end it all comes down to a choice: Either you want to change or your don't. Either you push yourself or you don't.

You only have one body, how you choose to inhabit it is completely up to you. If you are happy being fat that's excellent. If you aren't, you have to do something about it if you want it to change. In today's society, "fat" is a bad word, akin to a lot of curse words out there. We don't call people "fat" we call them overweight, obese, fluffy, big-boned, etc. Its fat. Plain and simple. A human body is built of layers, starting with bones, then muscles, ligaments and nerves, then a layer of fat and skin. Fat is necessary to keep you warm and to protect your organs. The technical term for it is adipose tissue. An excess of fat, however, is dangerous, and can have detrimental effects on your health, which is why medical professionals established guidelines to help keep people healthy.

Is it easy to be healthy? No. Is it worth it? Yes. Why? For me personally, its because I have something to prove--to myself. For far too long I've let things that happened in the past haunt me and bring down my self esteem and I am done with that crap. I can't complain about something if I don't do anything about it. Is it hard? Incredibly so, I hate eating right, or not being able to go out to eat. I hate counting calories, steps, distance, etc. I hate not being able to go straight home and curl up with a  book, or watch a movie. At the end of the day though, nothing gives me a better feeling than knowing I did it. Even just one workout is worth it. I got up off my ass and I did it. I am setting an example, I am doing what needs to be done. The only workout I regret is the one I didn't do. Every time I start and then quit, its a disappointment to myself. It is a testament to my will that I keep starting over. So yes, I may not stick with it for very long, but I always start again. I won't ever give up trying to be better. You can choose to judge me or you can choose to support me. Either way, I'm doing what I need to do.

Fitness Test

I am committed to staying on track and reaching my goals. If you go back through this blog, you will see how many times I have started only to give up for whatever reason is handy. At this point in time, though, I am committed. I am HAM. Not EGGS.

So, in order to accurately gauge where I stand and what I need to do, I took (and paid for) a fitness test. This is what I learned:
Fully Clothed:
5'5"
164.5 lbs
31% BIA
27.4% BMI (Which is considered "overweight," I have to get that under 25)
113 lbs of bone and muscle
51 lbs of fat
Average flexibility
140 steps in 3 minutes during the step test (Average)
and 33 crunches in 1 minute (Above Average, they only went to 25 so I'm going with AA)

So what did I learn from this experience? That I am pretty much carrying a small child...made of FAT. Gross.

Looking forward to Monday!

I did it!

This afternoon, after eating a relatively small portion of chicken fried rice and a strawberry banana smoothie, I went in and signed up for my gym membership, and I coerced two other people (L1 and RORO) into doing it too! So right now as it stands here is the group of accountability: L1, RORO, Keys, Nye, and myself. So the way this works is that you show up and check in with someone else there, to make sure you show up. Then you are free to work out as you please. That way, no matter what day you go, there will always be someone there to motivate you A) to show up and B) to work out with if you want to.

I've decided that I'm going to try to do the JM 30DS at the gym, maybe a little slower but with heavier weights, and then some extra cardio. We'll see how that works for now. Eventually I'd like to take some instructor led classes just to vary things.

Can I just say how excited I am about this? Most of the time on my way home, I'm thinking about how this or that went wrong, or how I can do this better or pay that bill sooner, but here lately, I just blast my Zune, Pandora, CD, or radio with my song of the day and just imagine myself working out and even though I'm not actually doing it, I feel better. I am looking forward to putting all that thinking into action and getting my fitness on!

So tired...

In general, of all the BS floating around. First of all, I'm feeling like I'm second picking for people, which means that they'd rather do other things than hang out , or that I'm just not important to hang out with. I'm also tired of being at home, because I have no time for myself, at all. Yet if I'm not at home, I get the once over...where have you been, why are you late, etc. I am exhausted right now. I also haven't slept in a few days.

Other things are work related: A) two people who are friends (one really good and the other more of an acquaintance) have resigned from my PT job, and as one of my coworkers so adequately put it, I feel like everyone is starting to jump ship... The other has to do with the other job: People are failing to understand the scope of my job, and it's really starting to grate on my nerves.

Right now, I just want to go to the gym and do some serious working out, till I'm so sore, sweaty, and tired that I drag my feet to my car. Because seriously, that's how mad I am right now. And it's not at someone specifically, but rather at everything piling up right now. I just need some time with me, my headphones, and some Jillian Michaels.

And...I'M BACK!

Hahahhahaha....you thought it was over! Surprise! With the start of a new year comes the inevitable list of resolutions. Over the holidays I got up to 162, and my weights been fluctuating between 160-164 for about six months now. However I am pleased to report that weighing in this morning I was down to 157, so the portion control and stair climbing at work (four flights of stairs) have been working. I'm also slowly cutting down my soda intake.

I am starting a combination of gym time and video work outs on February 1st. I have wrangled a commitment from commitment-shy L1 that she will go 3 to 4 times a week for Feb and the first week of March. I also have a friend, whom we shall call Keys, that has stated she will also work out with me. So even if they show up only two or three days a week, I will still have someone to keep me accountable, if nothing else, for at least showing up.

I've also been watching the Biggest Loser, and can I just say Jillian is mean! I had never watched the show before, and I only knew of her through the work out videos I have of hers, but I don't know that I wouldn't cry if she was yelling at me...

I want to get fit, in part because of health issues (cholesterol and high blood sugar) as well as for looks. Another reason? I am falling in love with the ocean and with beaches. I would love to go back to Grand Cayman and swim with dolphins and stingrays, and I would like to go snorkeling. I would like to not hold back L1 when we take snorkeling excursions because she can swim and I can't. I really would love to learn how to swim but I have a phobia....of bathing suits.

I am not wildly out of shape. I could definitely use some toning, but I am self conscious of parts of my body, so bathing suites....yeah. So anyways, I have to learn how to swim before my next vacation, which will hopefully be soon!!!!

Motivational pic of the day!

A New Start

The last few weeks have been a time of transition, change, and growth. My parents came to visit and then left. I had a birthday. I started my final semester of my bachelor's degree. Perhaps most importantly, though, is that I left a job that was no longer appropriate and came to a job that keeps me busy, engaged, and is technically a promotion. I work for higher education, so it was an internal transfer. It is like breathing fresh air. For a long time I have felt stifled, and my self-confidence has suffered. For a long time, I have let my work validate who I am as a person, and it was just recently after a spat of negative events that I realized how inappropriate it was. That is when the real push to expand and seek new opportunities began. I know that I am more than just an employee: I am a young woman, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, a student, a friend, etc. There are so many things and people that define who I am, and I was doing myself a disservice but allowing one place to influence me so heavily.

I worked out again last night, starting over, Day One Level One. Even if I can't do all three levels in 30 days, I am going to aim for at least one level every two weeks. I am starting off with modified versions again. I would say wish me luck, but I need to hold myself accountable too. Cheers! To a better me!